Crazy! What These Things Reveal About You!
There is a world of difference between a poker face and an open book. No matter how hard we try, we will never be able to hide from others everything we’d rather keep under wraps. Even if we ourselves are secretive and discreet, our body language reveals a lot that we can't control. But even tiny habits and tics, things we may not even notice anymore, reveal details about us to those around us, if they know how to read the signs correctly. We would like to introduce you to a few of these telltale things.
1. Dealing with service staff
If you want to know who you are really sitting at the table with, observe how they treat the service staff. The same goes for how hardworking employees are treated in the supermarket, at the cash register, or in any business that is part of the service industry. We should generally cross people who treat others badly off our list. But impatient nagging in a restaurant or in a line also says something about the stress resistance of these people. If you're freaking out because your order is taking a while to arrive, you're not a person to count on in real life.
2. The intensity of your eye contact.
Lying and cheating aren't the only things at play when people refuse to make eye contact with others. According to researchers at Cornell University, people often reduce eye contact with the person they're talking to when they're embarrassed about the topic or deep in thought. Sometimes people also struggle with conspicuous feelings during a conversation. They then also try to control these by breaking eye contact. On the other hand, people who are generous with their eye contact are considered to be socially well-anchored and sociable.
3. How you speak to others.
Logically, our choice of words and the way we speak reveals a lot about us. However, sometimes it's more the quiet nuances that expose our true feelings or intentions. In conversation with others, it reflects poorly on us if we jump to conclusions, use insinuations, or simply assert things and bring up issues that are not our place. Subtle jabs, cynical or even sarcastic comments are verbal spearheads that make us seem immediately less likeable and trustworthy.
4. The shoes you wear.
Show me your shoes and I'll tell you who you are. That's how you could sum up these findings. Our footwear can actually provide information about our character, as one study was able to impressively prove. The test subjects provided photos of their favorite footwear and then filled out a questionnaire in which they were asked to assess and describe themselves. The research group, however, only had the footwear images at its disposal, which it used to assess the participants. The results were astounding. Age, income and personal commitment behavior could be accurately predicted from the shoes. But it gets even better: Those who predominantly wear comfortable shoes are seen as pleasant. Those who prefer uncomfortable shoes are calm characters who have to fight emotional battles. People who tend to be aggressive prefer to wear ankle boots. Those whose footwear is spick and span or always brand new hide an anxious and insecure side and tend to be clingy and needy in relationships.
5. Your understanding of punctuality.
It's annoying, rude and robs other people of their time and the last nerve to boot. However, if you're constantly late, you've not only missed out on your childhood lessons, you've also missed out on many a good opportunity and many a worthwhile offer. But there is also good news in this context. These people are often born multitaskers, constantly juggling several balls in the air at the same time. As a result, they lose all sense of time, in the truest sense of the word. By the way, being early is just as unpunctual as being late. The only difference is that if we are early, we are only stealing time from ourselves. If we are late and make others wait, we steal it from them.
6. The "all mine" attitude.
Whether we are socially inclined or not can sometimes be seen in the most interesting things. For example, someone who comes back to work from their lunch break with cake and lots of tempting sweets, but isn't willing to share any of it, or at least pretend to, is making no secret of how little they value their social environment. Sharing food or a table with other people also gives us the opportunity to present ourselves as social animals or solitary wolves. These are only trifles that do not put anyone at a serious disadvantage. However, we could draw conclusions about what would happen if we were stranded on a desert island with such people.
7. Your handshake
What our parents and grandparents have already taught us about shaking hands, researchers at the University of Alabama have now been able to prove in an elaborate experiment with over 100 participants. A weak handshake indicates an introverted person who is struggling with self-doubt and has little confidence in himself and his abilities. The stronger the handshake, on the other hand, the more extroverted and self-confident a person is. Basically, a decent, powerful handshake convinces a positive first impression.
8. The smartphone check
Over 600 subjects took part in a study conducted by the University of Derby and Nottingham Trent University. The subject was mental health. The results were surprising. Those who can't put their smartphone down for 5 minutes are not rude or unfocused, but rather struggle with mental health issues. For example, the greater a person's anxiety, the more often they reach for their smartphone. It then serves as a distraction and mental support roughly comparable to the rubber band on the wrist of addicts.
9. Where your eyes wander when you drink
Psychological studies have shown that it reveals a lot about us where we let our gaze wander when drinking from a cup or glass. If we look beyond the rim, we are considered extroverted personalities who are open-minded and ready to talk. If we concentrate fully on the drinking vessel in our hand, we belong to the more thoughtful types. These people know themselves, are focused and have an idealistic outlook on life. Those who close their eyes while drinking do not feel comfortable. This is a sign of discomfort and that these people are just trying to gather themselves and find their center.
Today’s Conclusion: To be taken with a grain of salt
Like any knowledge that studies and experiments give us about other people, these findings should be taken with a grain of salt. Elaborate series of experiments can only ever provide one direction as a result, but can never speak for the entire population. Nevertheless, it is fun to know such things, as they can shorten the next waiting time in the café or at the train station in an entertaining way. However, it would be wrong to draw conclusions about the whole person from a tiny snapshot. Or we could do as German writer Otto Flake did. If you want to get along with people, don’t look too closely. That's it for today.